Fantasy football: Plenty of QBs to go around

If you play fantasy football in using standard scoring and lineup formats, then you probably know that QB isn’t a particularly important position compared to WR or RB.

Outside of a select few that can be counted upon to be top-flight producers every year, such as Aaron Rodgers (Packers) or Drew Brees (Saints), most passers are highly replaceable.

In my preseason rankings, I placed eight QBs among my top 90 and 13 in the top 100. In 10-team formats, most owners won’t carry more than a starter and a backup at the position, so there tends to be quite a few capable passers available on the waiver wire during the first month of the season.

Case in point: Matt Ryan (Falcons) wasn’t among my top 100 fantasy players entering the season. Through four weeks, he’s the top-scoring player in football and averages nearly five more points per game than Rodgers, the next-best per-week player.

Ryan isn’t alone in the top 10 for average among players I neglected to rank. Matthew Stafford (Lions) and rookie Carson Wentz (Eagles) average more than 17 points per game. Odds are good Wentz was available in your league until at least Week 2 or 3.

The same likely can be said for Dak Prescott (Cowboys), a fellow first-year passer filling in for injured Tony Romo. He’s averaging about as many points as Blake Bortles (Jaguars) and Philip Rivers (Chargers), both of whom were top 100 players entering September.

Pleasant surprises and fantasy duds exist at every position, to be sure. But at quarterback in a 10-team league, the bulk of backup-level quarterbacks are a dime a dozen.

The aforementioned Prescott, the No. 11 QB among current starters, is giving owners 16.5 points per game. Carson Palmer (Cardinals), my No. 11 QB in the preseason, has posted 14 points per contest and ranks 22nd among current starters. With 12 reserve-level fantasy QBs separated by just 2.5 points per game, it’s plain to see how replaceable QBs can be.

Keep all of this in the back of your mind before your draft next year if you’re thinking of taking a second-tier passer with one of your first 10 picks.

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